Our Research

We use community-based participatory research methods, including Photovoice, and mixed methods approaches to study and address disparities in access to mental health services. Our research also examines global strategies to prevent suicide with an emphasis on culturally responsive and relationally grounded practices. 

Research Focus

Youth Mentor-Led Brief Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Youth Suicide Prevention

Youth in the United States are at increased risk of poor mental health, sadness, hopelessness, and suicide ideation, and despite need, access to mental health care and prevention may be inadequate. Globally, task-shifting—training non-mental health providers to deliver mental health interventions in community settings—has shown promise in reducing depression symptoms and increasing access to care. However, its application as a suicide prevention strategy within the United States remains understudied.

With this project, we seek to:

  • Rigorously evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an adapted evidence-based mental health intervention, delivered by trained mentors
  • Mitigate key risk factors for passive suicide ideation among youth in community centers
  • Prevent the onset of suicide behaviors, thereby addressing a critical public health need.

Training goals:

  1. Develop expertise in systematically adapting interventions
  2. Gain expertise in task-shifting for suicide prevention
  3. Acquire skills in conducting pragmatic, randomized trials to test implementation strategies and youth suicide ideation mechanisms of change

Leveraging partnerships with three youth community centers, the proposed study aims to:

  1. Adapt BIPT-A for use by lay providers (youth mentors) in community centers to decrease depression symptoms, increase belongingness, and reduce burdensomeness among youth with subthreshold depression
  2. Train youth mentors in the adapted BIPT-A
  3. Conduct a pilot pragmatic randomized trial to test the feasibility, acceptability, and mechanisms of change of BIPT-A task-shifted to youth mentors

Read more about our project

Photovoice Projects

Dr. Vélez-Grau has led photovoice studies as part of her community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to adolescent mental health. 

The Lazos team is working with the participants to culminate the process in a community photo exhibition to raise awareness and foster dialogue between youth and community members. With community members, we co-wrote a manuscript for this project, and it is under review. We will also present findings at the Society for Social Work Research Conference in January 2026

Dr. Vélez-Grau also published a Photovoice study with adolescents receiving mental health services in New York City. That work highlighted themes such as sense of self, family, suicidal ideation, and treatment experiences, showing how photovoice empowers youth to express their realities and reflect critically on their lives.

Why This Work Is Important

  • Centers Youth Voices: Photovoice amplifies perspectives of ethnoracially minoritized adolescents, whose views on mental health are often overlooked in traditional research.
  • Promotes Empowerment: Participants feel empowered through self-reflection and critical thinking, which aligns with Paolo Freire’s concept of raising critical consciousness.
  • Informs Policy and Practice: Insights from these projects help design culturally relevant interventions and suicide prevention strategies that go beyond clinical settings.
  • Addresses Service Gaps: Hispanic-Latine adolescents experience high rates of depressive symptoms and low access to care; understanding their priorities is essential for reducing disparities.
  • Community Impact: Exhibitions and collaborative analysis foster dialogue among youth, families, service providers, and community members, driving systemic change.

Publications

Vélez-Grau, C. (2019). Using Photovoice to examine adolescents’ experiences receiving mental health services in the United States. Health Promotion International, 34(5), 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/day043

Vélez-Grau, C., Romanelli, M., & Lindsey, M. A. (2022). Adolescent suicide attempts in the United States: When suicide ideation and suicide capability interact. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 52(3), 549–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12845

Vélez-Grau, C., Magan, I. M., & Gwadz, M. (2023). The burden of not belonging: A qualitative study of the applicability of the interpersonal theory of suicide constructs of belongingness and burdensomeness to ethnocultural minoritized youth. Behavior Therapy, 54(5), 777–793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2023.02.004

Duarté‑Vélez, Y., Vélez‑Grau, C., & Álvarez, K. (2022). Correction to: Psychosocial Treatments for Ethnoculturally Diverse Youth with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors. In Handbook of Youth Suicide Prevention: Integrating Research into Practice (pp. C3–C4). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82465-5_26

Vélez‑Grau, C., & Álvarez, K. (2024). Looking at global mental health models to prevent youth suicide in the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health, 75(5), 700–702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.07.022

Vélez‑Grau, C., McTernan, M., Lindsey, M. A., & Mufson, L. (2025). Ethnic identity, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness among Latinx and Black adolescents in the United States. Psychiatric Research & Clinical Practice, 7(2), 109–116. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.prcp.20240111

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